Last Updated: Thursday, February 19, 2015 10:22:12 AM

Today is Thursday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2015. There are 315 days left in the year. This is the Lunar New Year of the Goat.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Feb. 19, 1945, Operation Detachment began during World War II as some 30,000 U.S. Mar ...

Last Updated: Friday, December 26, 2014 10:32:22 AM

Today is Friday, Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2014. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 26, 2004, more than 230,000 people, mos ...

Last Updated: Friday, December 19, 2014 7:03:48 AM

By FRAZIER MOORE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Along with its triumphs, the world of TV had its share of setbacks in 2014. Here's a sample:
* "How I Met Your Mother" Concludes: This long-running CBS sitcom met few viewers' expectations f ...

Last Updated: Friday, December 19, 2014 7:03:45 AM

By FRAZIER MOORE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- From the extraordinary Maggie Gyllenhaal-starring miniseries "The Honorable Woman" on SundanceTV to Syfy's goofy "Sharknado 2: The Second One," TV delivered in 2014 -- streaming, on cable and o ...

Last Updated: Thursday, December 18, 2014 7:20:03 AM

By HILLEL ITALIE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Like a serial for the digital age, the book world's most dramatic story of 2014 unfolded in installments, often in real time.
A dispute about e-book revenues between Amazon.com and Hachette B ...

Last Updated: Friday, June 06, 2014 9:59:08 AM

On a foggy morning 70 years ago today -- June 6, 1944 -- they plowed through churning seas to fight their way through swells that ran with blood, and then up beaches under withering fire in the expedition that saved the world.
They were just kids w ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:32:10 PM

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from: "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" by Tom Purcell. This column was first published in 2006.
Ah, St. Patrick's Day is upon us.
That means but one thing: time for Ameri ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:48:59 PM

By JAN TING
The so-called comprehensive immigration reform proposed by a group of Senators and President Obama amounts to immediate amnesty for millions of immigration law violators, the lifting of limits on future immigration, with some window ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:49:18 PM

Last week, Best Buy joined Yahoo to ban employees from telecommuting -- a subject on which I am becoming an expert.
As a self-employed writer, I telecommute every day. Thanks to the Internet and my cell phone, I can work for clients from anywhere ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:49:30 PM

If you're a leftist pausing to honor your memory of Hugo Chavez, maybe you forgot this peace-loving "man of the people" came to power after two military coups that left over 300 people dead. He changed the constitution, eliminating the sena ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:49:50 PM

The Broadway musical "Annie" is enjoying another revival on Broadway. The show opened during the Carter administration when America was in need of some optimism. "The sun'll come out tomorrow," sang Annie, and with the election of Ronald Reagan in 19 ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:49:36 PM

In the only vice-presidential debate of 2012, Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Joe Biden came out swinging, pleasing both their bases. The narrow edge goes to Biden, who returned momentum to Democrats smarting from President Barack Obama's lackluste ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 8:10:11 PM

By GINA BARRECA
The Hartford Courant
You'd think that being a gorgeous, charming, sophisticated young princess fully accessorized right down to having an adoring, healthy and attentive young king-to-be at one's side would have solved most pro ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:09:07 PM

By LOIS BANNER
Los Angeles Times
Why is Marilyn Monroe still an American icon 50 years after her death? She is endlessly analyzed in films and biographies; her image appears on T-shirts and posters; her popularity is reflected in the 52,000 Ma ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:30:28 PM

The Associated Press
Saturday, July 14, is the 196th day of 2012. Sunday, July 15, is the 197th day, leaving 169 days in the year.
This weekend:
In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias "Billy the Kid," was shot and killed by Sheriff Pa ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:50:00 PM

With a historic and just decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the nation Thursday moved a giant step closer to a health-care system that will work for all Americans.
By ruling the individual insurance mandate constitutional under the taxing author ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:09:15 PM

By DENNIS MCDOUGAL
Los Angeles Times
Rodney King used to tell a harrowing story about growing up in Altadena, Calif., where he and his three brothers rode their bicycles through the vacant hills behind the nearby Jet Propulsion Laboratory on ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:09:54 PM

By LYNNE K. VARNER
The Seattle Times
As my stepfather neared the end of his long battle with pancreatic cancer, his 10 children flocked to his side. As people expressed sympathy about our dying father, I always felt compelled to correct them: ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:29:10 PM

By MARC F. BERNSTEIN
Newsday
It's time for the next big thing in education, a true revolution in our approach to high school teaching and learning. The vision comes courtesy of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:29:46 PM

The Associated Press
Saturday, June 2, is the 154th day of 2012. Sunday, June 3, is the 155th day, leaving 211 days in the year.
Saturday's Highlight:
On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:30:57 PM

By G. EDWARD WHITE
The Free Lance-Star
On Dec. 27, 1895, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., then in his 15th year as an associate justice on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, encountered Edward Atkinson, a wealthy Boston entrepreneur who h ...

Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:49:07 PM

By BRUCE ACKERMAN
Los Angeles Times
Is citizenship a commodity, to be bought and sold when the price is right?
Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, thinks so. After becoming an American 14 years ago, he has traded his citizenship in the ...

DON WILLIAMS

Sports

By ADAM SHINDER
@RecorderShinder
On the piece of masking tape that holds his lineup to the dugout wall, Amsterdam Mohawks head coach Keith Griffin scrawled three words in all caps punctuated by three exclamation points in an attempt to set the tone ...

By ADAM SHINDER
@RecorderShinder
The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs beat the Albany Dutchmen Friday night in a one-game playoff. All that determined for the Amsterdam Mohawks was what team would clamber off their bus tonight at Shuttleworth Park.
After a ...

By ADAM SHINDER
@RecorderShinder
T.J. Czeski's path to greatness started early.
Brought up from the Amsterdam High School junior varsity football team as a freshman, the varsity Rugged Rams were six games into the 2002 season when Czeski suddenly got ...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Touted pitching prospect Luis Severino will make his next start with the New York Yankees.
Manager Joe Girardi said Friday that the 21-year-old Severino will start at home next week against Boston, but didn't specify when he would g ...

Obituaries

July 30, 2015
Jason William Cowan, 40, of Amsterdam passed away on Thursday, July 30th, 2015 at Mountain Valley Hospice with his family by his side. He was born to William and Angela (Baldicini) Cowan on May 31, 1975. Jason graduated from Ams ...

July 30, 2015
Paul W. Luft, 73, of The Town of Mohawk passed away peacefully Thursday, July 30, 2015 surrounded by his loving family.
Born October 25, 1941 in Fort Plain, he was a son of the late Edward and Alberta Sparks Luft. Paul was a ...

Wednesday, July 29
Mr. Felice A. "Felix" "Shorty's Boy" Persico, 68, of Sanford Road, Amsterdam, passed away unexpectedly, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 in Amsterdam.
Born in Amsterdam on November 3, 1946, a son of the late Carmen and Philomena Mor ...

Entertainment

By FRAZIER MOORE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- After more than 16 years and nearly 2,600 telecasts, Jon Stewart can feel proud of his scads of Emmys and his pair of Peabody Awards, his cultural gravitas (he hung with the Prez, both on and off the air!), even his reprobate status at Fox News.
Who could blame him for wanting to depart "The Daily Show" on this high note?
Besides, maybe it had gotten too easy. By June, when Donald Trump jumped in ...

By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The survey says: ABC's version of "Celebrity Family Feud" ended its run on Sunday as an unexpected summertime hit.
The Steve Harvey-hosted show, which aired six hour-long editions, averaged 9.1 million viewers and was the most-watched new television program this summer, the Nielsen company said. It more than doubled the viewership ABC had in the same time slot last year with "Wipeout."
"We had hig ...

By JENNIFER KAY
The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Like many of his baby boomer peers with grown children and debts to settle, one-time heartthrob David Cassidy is looking to downsize.
He's taking some last looks around his five-bedroom Florida mansion, worrying over bougainvillea he has tended around the stone pool deck for 13 years and taking stock of the property he says is his favorite out of all the homes he's owned.
But once he ...

OPENING THIS WEEK
"Best of Enemies" -- A documentary about the infamous 1968 televised clashes between conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal Gore Vidal and how they prefigured contemporary TV punditry. Directed by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon. (1:27) R.
"Dukale's Dream" -- A documentary about the unlikely friendship between actor Hugh Jackman and an Ethiopian coffee farmer. Directed by Josh Rothstein. (1:10) G.
"The End of the Tour" -- ...